What is the term for a relationship where one organism benefits without causing harm to another?

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In ecology, the term that describes a relationship in which one organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed is known as commensalism. In this type of relationship, the benefiting organism may gain resources, shelter, or surface area to live on, while the other organism remains unaffected. An example of commensalism can be observed in the relationship between barnacles and whales. Barnacles attach to the skin of whales and benefit by being transported to various feeding areas, whereas the whale does not experience any significant impact from the presence of barnacles. This clarity differentiates commensalism from other types of ecological interactions, such as mutualism, where both organisms benefit, and parasitism, where one organism benefits at the expense of the other.

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